WASHINGTON- Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI) issued the following statement in response to President Bush’s Oval Office address last night:

“I was deeply disappointed in the President’s address last night.  Rather than address the nation and continue the healing on the five year anniversary of the September 11^th attacks, President Bush decided to politicize his remarks and tie in Iraq.  Rather than simply consoling the families of 9-11 victims, articulating what America has done to make our borders safer and outlining plans for continued security, the President could not resist tying in Iraq – as though the Iraqi people or Saddam Hussein himself – were somehow connected to the events of that dreadful day.  Even Vice President Cheney has admitted there is no link whatsoever between Saddam Hussein and 9-11.  Yet the President continues to mislead the American people by deliberately blurring together Iraq, Al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein and 9-11.

“President Bush went so far last night as to say that ‘The world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power.’  To the contrary, the world – and certainly Iraq – is not a safer place.  The Administration has provided a rallying call for all terrorists to coalesce around the invasion of Iraq.  The President even admitted last night that the terrorists have carried out attacks in more than two dozen nations.  The President’s war in Iraq has not made the world safer.

“The President talked about how we saw the face of evil on September 11, 2001.  This is true.  The face of evil was Osama bin Laden and the beast that he calls Al Quaeda.  Rather than focusing on the hunt for Bin Laden so we could cut off the head of the beast and cripple Al Quaeda, President Bush diverted troops and resources to invade Iraq. 

“The Administration vastly underestimated what would happen if we invaded Iraq and Secretary Rumsfeld wanted nothing to do with discussions of planning for a postwar Iraq.  Brig. Gen. Mark E. Scheid recently revealed that Rumsfeld said ‘he would fire the next person’ who talked about the need for a postwar plan.  America is now paying the price for the Administration’s failure to plan for postwar Iraq with the end result being that America and the world are not as safe as they should be.

“The anniversary of the September 11th attacks should have been a solemn tribute to those who lost their lives, an explanation of what we have done to make our country safer and a vision for all Americans to unite behind to ensure the security of our nation.  By including Iraq, President Bush politicized the anniversary, further divided our country and showed once more that he and his administration will stop at nothing to justify their war in Iraq.”

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